Lots of shows for The Hanging Stars coming up including Sweden and Spain
13-08-2024The Hanging Stars continue to intrigue and amaze, "On A Golden Shore" is still cosmic but branching out.
Having fashioned their most fully realised album in the shape of ‘Hollow Heart’, albeit in the depths of lockdown, The Hanging Stars returned to the place of its genesis, the remote recording studio owned by Edwyn Collins to record this follow-up, basically their version of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” That said, ‘On A Golden Shore’ finds the band flexing their muscles with several of the songs less cosmic than on its predecessor and even at times almost raunchy.
The album arrives with The Hanging Stars reflecting on a year of triumphs. Encompassing an Americana Music Association Bob Harris - sanctioned award and a Nashville sell-out in Third Man’s Blue Room with Jack White approvingly looking on, they’ve consolidated their position as a leading force – and a spur and example to the likes of Bobby Lee and Hollow Hand - in the increasingly diverse, ever more fascinating UK Cosmic Americana cohort. Consequently, and perhaps ironically, the confidence this recognition, and more crucially the concomitant self-recognition, engendered has allowed them to pay less attention to any preconceptions of what they are ‘supposed to be’. On A Golden Shore - their fifth album, and their second for the pioneering Loose Music, following 2022’s Hollow Heart- finds them definitively The Hanging Stars and no one else.
While it’s not as immediate as its predecessor, ‘On A Golden Shore’ finds The Hanging Stars forging on, creating their own identity while retaining elements of their past recordings.
The second half of 2024 will be busy for the Hanging Stars, beside some more club dates in the UK, Swedish and Spanish dates are coming up:
15/08: Gothenburg, SWE - Pustervik
16/08: Stockholm, SWE - Stockholm Roots
17/08: Falkenberg, SWE - Rootsy Summer Fest
18/08: Malmö, SWE - Annelundsgården
08/09: Glasgow, UK - Freakender Fest
20/09: Bilbao, ESP - DalecandELA Fest
21/09: Santander, ESP - Little Bobby
22/09: Segovia, ESP - Octavo Arte
25/09: Valencia, ESP - Loco Club
26/09: Zaragoza, ESP - Rock & Blues Café
27/09: Madrid, ESP - Sala Clamores
28/09: Avilés, ESP - Factoría
19/10: Chelmsford, UK - Hot Box
01/11: Sheffield, UK - The Greystones
09/11: Coventry, UK - Just Dropped Records
15/11: Barton Upon Humber, UK - The Ropewalk
16/11: Brighton, UK - The Prince Albert
17/11: Portsmouth, UK - Wedgewood Rooms
21/11: Hull, UK - The New Adelphi
22/11: Ipswich, UK - St Stephens Church
23/11: Leeds, UK - The Lending Room
27/11: London, UK - The Jazz Café
29/11: Chester, UK - St Marys Creative Space
01/12: Isle of Wight, UK - Strings Bar & Venue